Balancing Platform Control and External Contribution in Third-Party Development: The Boundary Resources Model
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2013

Prior research documents the significance of using platform boundary resources (e.g. application programming interfaces) for cultivating platform ecosystems through third-party development. However, there are few, if any, theoretical accounts of this relationship. To this end, this paper proposes a theoretical model that centres on two drivers behind boundary resources design and use – resourcing and securing – and how these drivers interact in third-party development. We apply the model to a detailed case study of Apple’s iPhone platform. Our application of the model not only serves as an illustration of its plausibility but also generates insights about the conflicting goals of third-party development: the maintenance of platform control and the transfer of design capability to third-party developers. We generate four specialised constructs for understanding the actions taken by stakeholders in third-party development: self-resourcing, regulationbased securing, diversity resourcing and sovereignty securing. Our research extends and complements existing platform literature and contributes new knowledge about an alternative form of system development.

third-party development

boundary resources model

platform

application programming interfaces (APIs)

securing

resourcing

Författare

Ahmad Ghazawneh

Internationella Handelshögskolan i Jönköping

Ola Henfridsson

Chalmers, Tillämpad informationsteknologi, Interaktionsdesign

Information Systems Journal

1350-1917 (ISSN) 1365-2575 (eISSN)

Vol. 23 2 173-192

Styrkeområden

Informations- och kommunikationsteknik

Transport

Ämneskategorier

Systemvetenskap

DOI

10.1111/j.1365-2575.2012.00406.x

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Senast uppdaterat

2018-05-31